The Mega Millions jackpot is now up to $820 million after no one claimed the grand prize last week. It is the fifth-largest jackpot in the game’s history, according to New York Lottery officials.
One (or several) lucky winners could be hundreds of millions of dollars richer by the end of the day on Tuesday.
That said, how much can you actually expect to pocket in New York, a state that features the highest tax rate on lottery winnings in the US?
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How much Mega Millions jackpot amounts to after New York lottery taxes
The one-time cash payout option on the massive Mega Millions jackpot is an estimated $422 million. But that’s before the taxman gets his cut of the winnings.
In New York, a lottery winner sees $37.6 million go to state taxes alone. Federal taxes would eat up another $157.7 million.
That leaves a grand total of $231 million. Not a bad payday.
Nevertheless, NY has the highest state tax burden for a lottery winner in the country. Even New Jersey ($34.1 million), Pennsylvania ($13M) and Connecticut ($29.8M) would take less from its lotto players.
Maryland ($37.3 million) is actually the second-worst state to get lottery lucky in, as far as taxes go.
There’s always the annuity option for NY lottery jackpot winners
If a single winner in NY were to take the 29-year annuity payment option, the grand total would come out to $445 million after taxes.
Several states do not take any state taxes at all. Some may even be surprising. California and Hawaii top the list of no-tax states on lottery winnings.
Mega Millions has odds of 1 in 302.6 million, but players continue to purchase tickets as the size of the grand prize grows ahead of Tuesday’s drawing.
Mega Millions jackpot due for a win in New York
The last Mega Millions player hit the top prize on April 18.
Friday’s drawing resulted in eight tickets matching five white balls for a $1 million prize. Two each were sold in New Jersey, Florida and North Carolina, with one each in California and Michigan.
Only three times has a Mega Millions jackpot-winning ticket been sold in New York. The last came in 2012 for a prize of $14 million. The largest prize in the Empire State occurred in 2002, the fourth-ever drawing of Mega Millions. A group of 11 coworkers in New York City pooled their tickets to claim $108 million.
The Powerball jackpot also was approaching near-record levels before a store in downtown Los Angeles sold the winning ticket for last Wednesday’s drawing. It was worth an estimated $1.08 billion (and no state taxes!)
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
